Automatic lock slider



April 2, 1946u D. RABINQW 2,397,693

AUTOMATIC LOCK SLIDER Filed Jam. 26, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l Y DAVIDRABINOW BY @AMW/W AGENT April 2, 19416.y D. RABINOW 2,397,693

` AUTOMATIC Loox SLIDER I Filed Jan. 26, y1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

DAV/D RA'lNowI BY AGENT Patented .Apu 2, 1946A AUTOMATIC Loox sLmEa'David Rablnow, Maplewood Township, Essex I County, N. J., assignor toConmar Products Corporation, Newark, N. J., a corporation of New ,JerseyApplication January 26, 1945, Serial No. 574,743 Claims. (Cl. .2L-205.5)

This invention relates to a slider for a slide.

fastener and more particularly to an automatic lock slider.

view of an automatic lock slider embodying features of the presentinvention; i

The common form of automatic lock slider embodies a detent whichnormally engages the elements of Ithe slide fastener and hence preventsunintended opening of the fastener. In most prior constructions, whilethe locking detent can be fully brought out of engagement when theslider is moved in opening direction, this is not true when it is movedin closing direction. This results in unsatisfactory running qualitiesof the slider when moved in closing direction and in excessive Wear ofthe detent. The prime object of my invention is to provide an automaticlock slider which is as smoothly running in closing direction as inopening direction. A more specilc object is to provide an automatic lockslider the locking detent of which is completely brought out ofengagement with the fastener elements in Whichever direction the sliderlis moved.

It is true, in a slider of a known type the disadvantage of roughrunning qualities in closing direction are obviated, yet with thisconstruction the locking detent is exposed when the slider is actuated.As a matter of fact, with this prior construction, the locking detentmight be made to stay exposed by extraneous material or for Fig. 2 is apartially sectioned side view, the section being taken through theslider body in the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of a slider lug, and shows how the tangsof the lug are closed;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken through the pull in the plane ofthe line 4-4 of Fig, 2;

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the slider` body, that is, theslider before the assembly of the pull andlocking member thereto; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the locking mechanism inunlocked condition.

In the particular construction shown in the drawings, the inventionisapplied to a one-piece die cast slider. Having first reference toFigs. l and 2, the slider generally designated S comprises parallelwalls I0 and I2 provided with inturned flanges i4 and I6 and united atone end by a wedge-shaped post I8 frequently referred to as the diamond.The slider wall l0 is providedwith outwardly projecting recessed lugs.20, 20. Thus far the construction described is a conventional 4form ofa slider body. This slider body defines interiorly a Y-shaped channeland cooperates with i a slide fastener received in this channel and notsome other reason even when the slider is not tent is always concealed.Thus, the locking detent is protected from injury and at the same timeprevented from damaging` any extraneous materials.

Other objects of my present invention are to provide an automatic lockslider which is sturdy in structure and can readily be assembled..

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as mayhereinafter appear, my invention consists in the elements of anautomatic lock slider and their relation one to the other as hereinafterare more particularly described in the specification and sought to ybedefined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by drawings, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a partially sectioned front elevational shown in the drawingsbecause it may be of conventional character. By moving the slider S inthe direction of the diamond the elements of the two opposing halves ofthe slide fastener are interlocked, and by moving the slider in theopposite direction the elements are disengaged.

The automatic locking mechanism according to the invention, as exempliedin the construction of the drawings, includes a locking member 22, apull 24 and a spring 2t.

The locking member is a two-armed lever and is fulcrumed for rockingmovement on the slider wall I0. For this purpose the slider wall isprovided with an outwardly tapered portion 28, clearly shown in Figs. 2,5 and 6. The arm 22 o'f the locking member is provided with a detent Dwhich operates in an aperture 2l in the slider wall lll. In the positionof the detent shown in Fig. 2; the detent extends into kthe sliderchannel C to engage the elements of one of the slide fastener halves.The arm 22' is provided with a stop 23 ldesigned to retain the lockingmember from being withdrawn from the slider. l

The pull 24 comprises amain body 30, a cover 32, and two trunnions 34,34, the main body and cover being spacedly joined by an intermediateportion 36, and all the pull-forming'portions being an integral wholethat can be beneficially the Slider.

' 'l'he formation oi the pull at its cam end can be best seen in Fig. 4.

The spring 26 consists of a central portion 44, coil portions 48, 48 andfree ends 48, 4l. The central portion 44 which forms a bend or loop islaid along the side edges of the portion 3B and is thereby partlyreceived in a groove El! formed between the main body lll of the pulland the cover 32 (see Fig. 2). The two coil portions, which adjoin thecentral spring portion 44, lie around the trunnions 34, 34 and terminatein the end portions 48, 48.

This slider is assembled in the following steps:

First the spring is assembled to the pull by spreading apart the coilportions 46, 46 of the spring, passing one of the coil portions over atrunnion'34, putting the central spring portion 44 in place, as isindicated in Fig. l, and passing the other coil portion 4B over theother trunnion 34. w

The next step is to assemble the locking member 22 to the slider. Thisis done by placing the locking member into the position shown in Fig. 2.

' Finally the connected pull spring is attached to the slider body. Eachof the pivot lugs 20, 20 provided with this construction. has a recess52 which is open in the initial formation of the slider as shown insolid lines in Fig. 3. The trunnions 34, 34 as well as the spring endportions 48, 48, the very ends of which are preferably folded back asshown in Fig. 4, are placed in the recesses 52, 52, whereupon the tangs54, 54 of each of the recessed lugs 20, 20 are closed, vthe closedcondition being indicated in Fig. 3 in dash-dotted lines. The closedlugs retain the trunnions and the spring ends against displacement. Thespring is so wound and the spring ends are so secured to the slider asto keep the pull ilat against the slider body as shown in Fig. 2. Inthis ilat or normal position of the pull the spring is under torsion soas to normally urge the pull andthe locking detent-carrying vann 22' ofthe locking member 22 toward the front of the slider and at the sametime the detent D into engagement with the slide fastener elements.

When so assembled-the central spring portion 44 which engages the pullmovestogether with the pull with or against the torsion of the spring,whereas the spring ends are xedly supported on As mentionedhereinbefore, Fig. 2 illustrates the locking condition of the slider. Inthis condition, the pull with its surface 56 bears against the arm 22'of the locking member 22 and with its surface 58 against the other arm22". In Fig. 6, which illustrates the unlocked condition of the slider,two different raised positions of the pull are shown. The slider isunlocked 'in the usual way by manual operation of the pull. The

solid line position indicates the condition preparatory to or during themovement of the slider in opening direction. The dot and dash lineposition illustrates the movement in closing direction.

From inspection of Fig. 6 it can be seen that in whatever raisedposition the pull might be, the cam portion 42 engages the arm 22"I andpresses this arm farther into the depression 80 provided in the sliderwall I0. The arm 22 has swung outwardly and the detent I) has moved outof engagement with the fastener elements. The

torsion of the spring is increased by raising the pull with the resultthat the pull, when released, is forced all the more back into the fiatposition shown in Fig. 2. The locking member is thus, under the actionofthe spring, automatically caused to rock back into the position ofFig. 2, with the detent ready to engage or engaging the slide fastenerelements. With the present construction, it will appear that theover-all height of the slider is decreased by providing the depression60 which receives the lever arm 22".

The details on the slider wall l0 are best shown in Fig. 5 wherein itwill be seen that the depression 60, the fulcrum 28, the aperture 2| anda raised portion 62 are substantiallyin alignment with each other andarranged longitudinally oi the slider. The slider wall I0 is raised at62 to provide a cavity 64 in its inner surface to allow the stop 23 tomove over a larger arc of movement and thus make it possible for thedetent D to move from the locking position of Fig. 2 to the completelyunlocked position of Fig. 6.

From Fig. 6, two distinctive features of the invention will be clear.One feature is that the locking detent D even when disengaged remainsconcealed. Consequently, damage of the detent 1 itself as well as damagecaused by the detent to spring 26, after the pull and spring have beenunited in the above referred to way, are xed at the trunnions 34, 3B ina single operation, while the locking member 22 is merely placed intoits position.

, detenta It will be understood that although I have shown the lockingmember with one detent only, this is not essential. The locking memberlmay just as well be provided with a pair of staggered It is believedthat the construction and operation, as well as the many advantages ofvmy improved automatic lock slider, will be apparent from the foregoingdetailed description thereof. It will also Vbe apparent that while Ihave shown and described my invention in a preferred form.'

many changes and modifications may be made in thestructure disclosed,without departing from the spirit of the invention as sought to bedefined in the following claims:

I claim:

l; In an automatic lock slider for a slide fastener, a lever fulcrumedon the slider, a locking detent on the lever, a pull pivoted on theslider, and a spring acting immediately on the pull and .urgingsame'toward the sliderand the locking deten't into engagement with theelements of the y Slide fastener. 2.. In an automatic lock slider for aslide fastener, a lever fulcrumed on the slider, a locking Adetent atone end of the lever, a pull pivoted on the slider, a cam at the pivotend of the pull, and a spring acting immediately on the pull and urgingthe pull and locking detent-carrying end ofthe lever toward the sliderand the Ilocking detent into engagement with the elements of the slidefastener, said cam engaging the other endof the lever and causing thelocking detent to move out of engagement with said elements when thepull is raised.

3. In a slider as dened in claim 2, said spring being a coil springsubstantially arranged around the pull pivot.

4. In an automatic lock slider for a slide fastener, a channeled bodyformed by a pair of spacedly united walls and adapted to receiveinteriorly the slide fastener, one of said Walls having an outwardlytapered portion, a rigid member disposed longitudinally of the sliderand loosely fulcrumed on said tapered portion for rocking movement, withthe tapered portion located intermediate the ends of said member, alocking detent at one end of the member, a pull having a cam portion atone end and being pivoted adjacent said cam portion on said slider wall,and a coil spring arranged substantially around the pull pivot andtorsionally acting on the pull in order to urge the pull and lockingdetentcarrying end of the member toward the slider and lthe lockingdetent into engagement with the elements of thev slide fastener, saidcam portion engaging the other end of said member and causing thelocking detent to move out of engagement with said elements when thepull is raised, whereby the raising of the pull will increase thetorsion upon the spring.

5. In an automatic -lock slider for a slide fastener, a channeled bodyformed by a pair of spacedly united walls and adapted toreceiveinteriorly the slide fastener, one of said Walls having an openingtherethrough, an outwardly tarepresenting the place oi application of aforce torock the lever, a pull having a cam portion at one end andoutwardly extending trunnions at thecam portion end, the trunnions beingsupported by said lugs, a coil spring arranged substantially around thepull pivot and normally torsionally acting on the pull and urging thepull and locking detent-car ing lever arm toward the slider and thelocking detent into engagement with the elements of the slide fastener,said cam portion engaging said place of application and causing thelocking detent to move out of engagement with said elements when thepull is raised.

6. In a slider as defined in claim 5,"said spring comprising aloop-shaped central portion engaging the pull, two coil portionsadjoining said loopshaped portion and being arranged around thetrunnions, and free ends engaging the lugs.

7. In a slider as deilned in claim 5, said spring comprising aloop-shaped central portion engag, ing the pull, two coil portionsadjoining said loopshaped portion and-being arranged around thetrunnions, and free ends engaging the lugs, said pull having a portioncovering the spring.

pered portion, and a pair of outwardly projecting 8. In a slider asdefined in claim 4, the locking detent-carrying end of the member beingprov vided with a stop cooperating with a. cavity in the slider wall,the stop serving to retain the member against withdrawal from theslider, the cavity receiving the stop when the locking detent is out 'ofengagement with the slide fastener elements, and permitting the lockingdetent to completelv move out of engagement.

9. In a slider as defined in claim 4, said slider wall being providedwith a. depression to receive the end of the member opposite the lockingdetent-carrying end.

10. In a slider as defined in claim 2, said spring being shaped andarranged so that it engages the pull at points spaced from the pullpivot.

DAVID RABINOW.

